A dozen years after hit single, Nada Surf still very popular

Friday

Nov 28, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 28, 2008 at 12:01 AM

The release this week of the five-album vinyl collection of all of Nada Surf’s music is a boon to rock collectors and those who never quite took to the sound of CDs. It’s also a testament to the trio’s resilience, not to mention the allure of their power pop.

Jay Miller

The release this week of the five-album vinyl collection of all of Nada Surf’s music is a boon to rock collectors and those who never quite took to the sound of CDs. It’s also a testament to the trio’s resilience, not to mention the allure of their power pop.

Nada Surf, you see, had the big early-career splash and accompanying major label deal, only to see it dissolve just as quickly when the “next hit single” didn’t materialize. But the Brooklyn threesome went the independent route, building and nurturing a loyal audience through the elbow grease of grassroots promotion, constant touring, and Internet outreach.

Nada Surf returns to The Paradise in Boston on Tuesday night, celebrating the release of that career-spanning vinyl set (limited to 1000 copies), on Barsuk Records, and also the release this year of “Lucky,” the band’s fifth album.

“It’s really amazing to me to contemplate our box set coming out this week,” said Nada Surf drummer Ira Elliot, calling from a Texas tour stop. “It has been 13 years since we started, so it’s as good a time as any to look back. But it does seem weird in some ways. I’m amazed we have a five-album catalog, and that’s a nice club to be in. We took so much time with each record, it seems wild we have that many. But the vinyl set with the original artwork and everything is a beautiful package.”

High school buddies Matthew Caws (guitar) and Daniel Lorca (bass) began playing together in an early version of the band in 1992 in New York City, but it wasn’t until Elliot joined in ’95 that the band took off. Elliot had been in The Fuzztones before that.

The band members were fortunate to be heard early in their careers by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Their club shows in the Big Apple were good enough to land the band a label deal with Elektra Records. Ocasek offered to produce their debut album, and “High/Low” made an immediate impact.

Nada Surf’s debut included “Popular,” a witty little tune that had Caws, in a sardonic, increasingly agitated voice, offering advice to teens for social success.

The song was just goofy enough to become a hit, and Nada Surf was the buzz band of the moment for a while in ’96.

The band’s sophomore album was when the bubble burst, as Elektra rejected it, claiming there were no hit singles on it.

“The Proximity Effect” was released in Europe only, in 1998, and Nada Surf managed to slip out of its contract with Elektra and eventually acquire the rights to its album, which was finally released in the United States on the band’s own label in 2000.

Between the label problems and the precipitous fall from the spotlight, Nada Surf’s members had to basically go back to day jobs to survive from 1999 to 2002. They released their third album, “Let Go,” on the Seattle indie label Barsuk in 2002. In 2005 a fourth CD, “The Weight is a Gift,” continued their comeback, as did song placements on several TV shows and movies. Their music has been heard on shows such as “How I Met your Mother” and “Numbers,” and they had a recurring role in “One Tree Hill” as the fictional band Concrete Bed.

Countless people have heard the band playing the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” in a popular TV commercial for a credit card company.

All of Nada Surf’s albums gained critical acclaim, as the trio melds smooth melodies with punky passion, and Caws pens intriguingly off-center lyrics. The band might remind fans of Coldplay one moment, Green Day the next, or even popsters such as Marshall Crenshaw.

The latest album was released in February and it has some unique songs. “See These Bones,” for example, is a lilting rocker urging us to seize the day, live in the moment and not waste a second. It was inspired by Caws’ visit to the Crypt of the Capuchin Monks in Rome, where there is a sculpture made from bones of the departed. The driving rock of “Ice on the Wing” was inspired by Caws’ grandfather’s exploits as a fighter pilot and then ambulance driver in two world wars.

The new album, in short, has compelling songs, deft musicianship, and guests such as Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Long Winters singer John Roderick, pianist Ed Harcourt, and Sean Nelson of the band Harvey Danger. Whether or not it has a hit single scarcely concerns any of the threesome.

“You could say we tried to play ball with the record company a little bit for that second album, but not really in the final analysis,” Elliot said. “We’ve never been that kind of band. We’ve followed a real natural progression, by doing exactly what we wanted to do. That’s why we’re so happy to have this box set coming out.

“The radio landscape has shifted so much since we started, it’s impossible to predict what might be a single today. New York City finally does have a commercial rock station at the top of the FM dial playing a wide format, and our latest album is being played there. To hear Nada Surf on the radio again is exciting.”

Nada Surf has had loyal fans in the Boston area from the beginning. Years of grassroots audience building and word-of-mouth has allowed the group to sell out the Paradise.

COMCAST CENTER: The Comcast Center in Mansfield (nee Tweeter Center, nee Great Woods) has been cited by Billboard as Ampitheater of the Year 2008, based on being the top grossing venue in the country. Ticket sales were up 50 percent over 2007, owing both to more shows and increased interest, despite the economy.

LATE DATES: Don’t forget Roomful of Blues tonight at Showcase Live in Foxboro ... The Love Dogs top the monthly Swing Dance at Pembroke’s K of C on Saturday night ... Boston fusion guitar ace Patrick DeCoste performs the national anthem on Wednesday night at the Worcester Sharks AHL game at the DCU Center in Worcester. (DeCoste also did the anthem last August at Shea Stadium at a Mets game.)

Jay N. Miller covers popular music on the South Shore and in the Boston area. If you have information or ideas for Jay about the local music scene, bookings, recordings, artists etc., send it to him by e-mail to features@ledger.com. Attn: Music Scene in the subject line.